Improvement of 6-gingerol production in ginger rhizomes (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) plants by mutation breeding using gamma irradiation.

Ginger (Zingiber officinale Roscoe) is a valuable culinary and medicinal plant. The compound 6-gingerol is the main gingerol in ginger rhizomes and it possesses interesting pharmacological and physiological properties. Mutation breeding involved using low doses of gamma radiation (5-30 Gy) to increase the genetic variability in ginger rhizomes (M1 generation).